At age 20, Rishi Israni met a girl at a cooking event in University and fell in love. 4 years later, they got married and eventually began working together on a business that would go on to make millions of dollars with its flagship household product—the Rotimatic. We pulled him aside to ask for his advice on doing big business with life partners.

“The first time we met, we chatted for about 5 to 6 hours, and then I said, “I’m going down to the vending machine to get a Coke, do you want to join me?” And she joined me.”

Q: Hi Rishi! Thank you so much for making the time to be here! Okay so tell us, how did you meet your wife and what did you think of her when you first set eyes on her?

A: She was the roommate of a friend I was on a committee with. I saw her a few times and she always came across as somebody who had a lot of zeal for life. Like I still remember her smile when I close my eyes—those moments I clearly remember. It just started like “oh, here’s another human soul who is very bright” and luckily, because of her roommate, I got to interact with her. We were trying to organise a large function, trying to cook for close to about 150 people for the first time ever, and her roommate was supposed to turn up but she was not well so Pranoti turned up. That’s how we got to know each other.

How long did it take for you to ask her out on a date? What about her made you want to ask her out on a date and how did you actually do the asking?

There was really no date per se. I remember the first time we met, we chatted for about 5 to 6 hours, and then I said, “I’m going down to the vending machine to get a Coke, do you want to join me?” And she joined me and we talked again for the entire night. So I think from the day we met, the first date was I think a week after, and within the next few days, we sort of knew that we were going to get married to each other. So it was like a whirlwind romance of sorts.

How did the first date go? Did you think then you would want to marry her and start a business with her?

Well, marriage, yes, certainly did cross my mind. But business, in the first date this was not something I thought of at all. The thing that attracted me to her was that she’d always been an engineer who wanted to solve problems. And she always used her own mind rather than just subscribing to the general narrative. She always understood that whatever the general narrative was, wasn’t always correct or doesn’t apply to you as is. So that is the thing I still find very attractive: she thinks on her own and has her own point of view.

How and why did you eventually propose?

There was no proposal. I like to believe that she is the one who proposed while she likes to believe I proposed, but actually, none of us proposed. And nobody ever asked, “Would you marry me?”—it was assumed. The bond, the chemistry was just so strong that we just assumed that we were going to get married at some point. Then, parents came into the picture.

I had graduated, I was working, and she hadn’t even graduated and we had started thinking where she would live after she graduated, would she live with friends, etc? Parents intervened and said she is graduating, she’s going to move out of university so you’re going to get married. And I asked myself, do I have a reason to not get married? And it was the same—getting married or not getting married, it was the same thing. So, we were all right and we just got married.

Was doing business together ever on your mind at that point?

Oh yes, absolutely. I always wanted to start a company. Pranoti always wanted to change the world and do something, but her articulation was never to start a company. But I wanted to start a company and build a business, and that had been the case right through university and even when I was growing up. I knew I didn’t want to work for somebody. So right out of university, for a year I was trying to find something, I couldn’t find anything, so I took up a job for a year and a half. That job, I quit 3 or 4 times. And I went back to the same job. I would go out, and I would get scared or realise it wouldn’t work or I do not have the money or the correct understanding—initial whims can be misdirected—and I would go back. Finally, after the fourth time, my boss said, “Look Rishi, don’t do this again. This is the last time.”

I never thought I’d ever work with Pranoti because our fields are so different. I am a software guy, she’s a mechanical engineer, and in the initial days, I was just interested in software. My first company was called tenCube, I started it with a few of my friends from NUS [National University of Singapore], and I sold that company in 2010. Zimplistic started in 2008 so I didn’t start Zimplistic. After I sold the company, Pranoti wanted me to come over, and there was a lot of negotiation because I was in a very difficult situation. In an acquisition you have some sort of commitment to your acquirer, to the team, to the company and to the product, so if you leave earlier on it’s not great. I was torn. Pranoti was also reaching the stage where Zimplistic was getting too big and it required software leadership, so I took the big decision and joined Zimplistic.

So how did the idea to do business together come about? Was it you or she who proposed to do so?

So when Pranoti decides on something, she will just get it. She is that determined. She knows how to convince and persuade one. She must have convinced me for a few months to join her. I was busy with my company, she was working on Rotimatic, we would talk about things but just on a very macro level because it was a different world and I was very busy. Once I sold my company, Zimplistic was running out of money, she was trying to raise money and I was trying to help out as an outsider, and I think that is when she and I realised, I must jump in, or it will get much harder. It was a very complex problem she was trying to solve.

How did you figure out how to work together? Did you have any major problems along the way and if so, how did you resolve those problems?

In the beginning, it was very difficult. I came in and I wanted to work on different challenges in my own way, from the way project management is done to different tools—the software industry is more tool-centric, the mechanical world is not as tool-centric, and now I realise why. Also, in the first year, she would mention, “This is my baby, you don’t really understand my world yet!” And I used to be a little more brash and arrogant like, “Oh? I have more experience in a start-up!” I think it took us one year to understand each other. But, I think the disagreements were momentary because we had respect for each other and different skill sets along with different strengths. Both of us took the time to understand each other.

What are the best parts about running a business together with your wife though?

There are many, many, many good parts. At the end of the day, what really matters is striking that work life balance and being able to spend time with the people you love. And running a business together, you get to be with the person you like or love all the time. So that’s phenomenal. The other thing is, when you are going through your ups and downs, they understand why. Some negatives also exist like that both partners may be going through some problems at the same time—so that’s another challenge you need to learn how to handle.

How different are your routines now that you’re working on a business together, as compared to before when you both had separate jobs?

I think when we both had separate jobs, we didn’t even have kids, so it was slightly different. We would see each other much later, many times after dinner, and I was also working till much later. Now, it is very different. Sometimes we catch up during the day for lunch and we get to manage our kids better—we go home early, spend time with the kids—so basically the juggling of work is much easier. So I feel, as a father, and Pranoti as a mother, we spend more time with our kids than most people with jobs. So this is a phenomenal outcome.

What about weekends? Have those changed, and if so, how?

Weekends haven’t changed much. They remain more or less the same. It is just that now you have somebody else to talk to about the same problems and the same challenges and it’s actually more exciting. I feel that most couples don’t have many things to connect at an intellectual level. They might be romantically connected, but intellectually, sometimes, they don’t have common interests. And now that Zimplistic and product innovation are our interests, they keep us much closer together.

What advice do you have for couples hoping to start and run a business together?

I say this to many people–what most people don’t look at is that co-founders, they are also a couple in a way. By the end of it, they go through so much ups and downs, they end up having a very strong bond. And sometimes, if you look at the start-up world, there’s a lot of falling out amongst co-founders. They go through the same cycles so you should just regard your spouse with an objectivity. Know that the ups and downs, they are not just because of your spouse—it would be exactly the same if they were somebody else and not your spouse. For your spouse, the silver lining is, if you have a strong bond, you will definitely sort it out and get over it. Sometimes with a co-founder, you just can never bridge that gap. My only advice would be that one must know and be able to assess whether the bond is really strong or not. If so, it’s an enriching experience. Otherwise it can pull you further apart.

Can you map out a recommended plan of action for the above couples to follow?

A tactic that has worked for us is, ideally, have complimentary skills. That’s the best. If both partners have the same skills, then it’s going to be much harder. It’s the same with a co-founder. When both people want to do the same things, the difference of opinion is too much and it’s much harder. Sometimes people start with a spouse because it’s the easy way out. Like, oh I can’t find anybody else, let me start with my spouse because working with her would be cheap, free labour, right? It shouldn’t be one of those reasons at all. That’s very hard to sustain and you lose respect over time if your spouse is not capable.

I think one thing you should not do is get yourself into a situation where you end up losing respect because you didn’t think it through. For example, if you get your spouse to do business development but they are not the sort who can do it and they don’t want to do it, but are just doing it because they want to help out a little bit. Most couples are not very honest with each other but if two people can be absolutely honest with each other, that is a very strong foundation to start on. Otherwise it can derail your family life.

How did growing a business with your wife change you as a person? What do you know now that you didn’t before?

Pranoti has always had a more balanced perspective. I’m a bit more of an extremist. I think that is where it’s really helped me. Most people get swayed by either their greed or fear, and they can’t handle them. Pranoti has taught me balance. I have a tattoo on my hand that says ‘Play The Game’ and it’s about always making sure you know that all you can do is just try very hard. Not every time things work out but that’s part of the game; it’s okay, you’ve tried hard. So Pranoti keeps that perspective and even Zimplistic alive. If you see her around me, she’s always the more chirpier and happier one. I’m a little bit more serious.

If you could go back and replay your entire journey of starting and growing a business with your wife all over again, what would you do differently?

I would be less stressed about things.

What were you like as a child? What about as a teenager and young adult? How did you change at every decade? Or did you not change?

I think I’ve changed a lot. As a teenager, I always felt like I understood things at least a year later than I should have understood them. Like whatever was taught in Primary 3, I would only understand in Primary 4. It took me one year longer than everybody else because I would just go deeper and deeper and deeper into my head and I would just keep talking to myself and try to figure things out by myself. Slowly, over time, I realised most people don’t go so deep and they are more happy with a quick, simple answer. The other thing I realised in my later years was that I was very careless about sustained discipline work. I always thought I could just study at the last minute and do okay. And the truth is, I always did okay. But I only realised later that that okay was not okay. Because I really enjoyed my subjects; whatever I studied, I really liked those subjects. But studying at the last minute, I didn’t get all the knowledge I needed. I realised if you do things properly, compound interest has merit when it comes to knowledge accumulation. And it makes a huge difference.

At every decade, I realise more that almost every human being is the same. I actually believe that people are not different. They all have the same fears, they have the same aspirations, people are just the same. So it just helps me connect with human beings better and be more comfortable because we’re the same, so there’s nothing to hide or either be arrogant about or be ashamed about.

Which event in your life made you who you are? Why do you think so?

There was this one very, very big event… So computer science has always been a very old lover of mine, I’ve always enjoyed computer science, always loved it, and I was also extremely undisciplined. For example in NUS, they had these mid-term exams and I would either just not go for them or not study for them because I came from the thinking that only the final exams matter—that’s what the education I came from taught. And I knew in my heart that everybody would do the past year papers before the exams and I thought, you know, why should I do the past year papers? I thought it would be cheating by doing the past year papers. It’s a stupid thought, thinking back now, but I thought it wasn’t really the right thing to do so I never really did very well. I did not end up getting honours and that was the turning point because I realised it doesn’t really matter how much you like something, it doesn’t really matter how good you are at something, sometimes you have to work within the system. You can’t always beat the system.

Which 3 objects/people in your life can you presently not live without and why?

I think people would be my son (I should say sons but my newborn is too new, we are yet to get close), my wife and my family. Objects would be my computer.

Of all the objects you bought in the past year, which has been most useful? Why?

All objects are useless. I think the one object that has been most useful, that I buy every 1-2 years is my Kindle. I have 3 or 4; I keep one in every place. One in the office, one in my bedroom, one of the other bedrooms, because I like to read every now and when I feel like reading I don’t want to be in a situation where oh, I left it in the office or it is in the other room with my son who may be sleeping or my wife is in there, so it’s just good to have a few.

Which place in Singapore is your favourite? Why?

I have very, very fond memories of NUS and the west of Singapore. All my life has been just here—my first company, my second company, my education; from NUS to Block 71 to Science Park 1, Science Park 2… This part of Singapore, I have a lot of memories.

Which person do you wish LUCK-IT would interview for you to learn from? Why?

There is this guy, Chade-Meng Tan who is running something called Search Inside Yourself. This guy is a Google employee and he now talks about—and the name probably gives it away—how you can get to know yourself better. I think few people realise most successful people, the people you look up to, are also very wise. Sometimes you hear what they say and it’s like oh my god, this guy sort of understands how all of humanity works and just because of that understanding, he can solve problems better than everybody else. So I think this guy understands. He’s also taken the steps to get others to dig deeper and understand themselves.

The other guy, I don’t know his name, is a young, charismatic, dynamic guy who heads EDB [Economic Development Board of Singapore]. Even though he’s in the system which is so traditional, public sector, old school, he has maintained his identity and his perspective, so I find that commendable. Because it’s easy for the system to beat somebody into compliance, and if you get beaten into compliance then you don’t really think different, you don’t really think out of the box, you do what’s always been done before, whether right or wrong, it doesn’t matter. But some challenge the status quo.

What’s the worst advice you’ve been given, or have heard people giving? And what’s the best?

I think all advice is useless. I think when advice is given, most people lose the context of the advice. No two contexts are the same so everybody should–and this is also advice so this is also useless–take everybody else’s advice with a heap of salt.

The advice I found to be most useful is a quote by Steve Jobs who said, “Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you.” Hence, we are capable of change. As a young child, you start your life in a situation where you think you don’t know enough, and you think others know better than you and that’s your existence for the longest time, or at least for the 15-16 years you’re in school. But it doesn’t switch for many people when they grow older. So I think that’s one of the best advice that I’ve heard. I don’t know if I have implemented it, but I find it to be the most wise advice.

Lastly, is building a business as a married couple something you would recommend?

I would recommend it. But again, like with all advice, it’s a very complex piece of advice. Because Pranoti and I are not a traditional marriage couple. We are more friends than a married couple so if there is no strong friendship and no strong bond within a marriage, which does happen quite often, then one must be very, very careful. But if there is, then it can be a very, very wonderful experience.

Rishi is presently working on taking the Rotimatic to more markets, especially India. You can find out the latest in Rotimatic’s developments at rotimatic.com or ask him and his wife about inventions and running businesses using the comment box below. For the super, super enthusiasts of the Rotimatic, their doors are always open for you to walk in and chat with them.

Photographs courtesy and copyright of Rishi Israni. Interviewer: Sy
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